Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Should Moana Pasifika be saved?

There’s a strong chance that this has been Moana Pasifika's best and last season in super rugby. 

Do you want them to have another one? 

And if so, how much should the taxpayer put in to save it? 

Would you pay $7million? Because that’s apparently what they’re short. 

The Whānau Ora money is gone and it's understood that Sky is pulling its sponsorship of half a million dollars a year. 

World rugby also wants to either reduce or completely cut the money it puts in. That’s around $1.7million a year. 

So, for a club that costs about 12 m a year to run, it is short around $7million. 

My answer to the first question I asked you … is yes. Moana Pasifika should be saved. 

There is a very good reason to have a super ruby team dedicated to giving professional opportunities to Tongan and Samoan rugby players. 

They were also one of the best success stories of the season. 

My answer to the second question is that the taxpayer should pay nothing.  

I can almost guarantee there will be a request for taxpayer help, but this is not a taxpayer problem. This is a rugby problem. This is one for NZ rugby and rugby Australia to fix. 

They are the ones who own the Super Rugby competition, and the ones who make money off the broadcast deal from it. 

I hope they can sort it out though because in a rugby competition that failed to excite people during the regular season, Moana Pasifika were one of the better stories. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Question for you, should more Wana Pacifica be saved? At
this stage there is a really strong chance that this
has been more Onea Pacifica's best and last season in
Super Rugby. Do you want them to have another one?
And here's a second question for you, if you do,
how much should the taxpayer put in to save this
rugby club? Should it be seven million dollars? Because that's
apparently what they're short. The final order money is gone.

(00:22):
It's understood that Sky TV is pulling its sponsorship of
half a million dollars a year. It's also understood that
World Rugby wants to either reduce or completely cut the
money that it puts in. That's about one point seven
million dollars a year. So when you add it all
up for a club that costs about twelve million dollars
a year to run, it is short maybe seven million,
maybe most of the money that it needs. My answer
to the first question I asked you is yes, Morena

(00:45):
Pacifica should be saved. There is a very very good
reason to have a Super rugby team dedicated to giving
professional opportunities to players from Tonga and Psalm War. I'm
not sure it actually works, but the idea is worth it.
The idea is worth seeing if it can work. And
the other reason that they should be saved is they
were basically the best success story out of the past season.

(01:05):
My answer to the second question is nothing. The taxpayer
should put in absolutely nothing. Now I'm preempting what I
think is going to happen, but I'm pretty sure it's
going to happen, don't. You can almost guarantee there's going
to be a request for taxpayer help. I've already heard
it suggested by commentators, especially given how big that funding
gap is. I mean, seven million dollars in a twelve
million dollar budget is a lot of money to find,

(01:26):
and I doubt very much you're going to find it
from corporate sponsors. Do you think so sky TV is
skinning the game? Sky TV actually needs the squad to
do well, and even they apparently are pulling their sponsorship deal.
This is not a taxpayer problem. This is why I
don't want money to go into it from the taxpayer.
This is a rugby problem, right. This is a problem
for New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia to fix. They
are the ones who own the Super Rugby competition. They

(01:47):
are the ones who make money off the broadcast deal.
They are the ones who need to save this team.
I hope they can sort it out, though, because in
a super rugby competition that honestly failed to excite people
during the regular season. More onea pacifica Best Stories for
more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, Listen live to news
talks It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the

(02:08):
podcast on iHeartRadio.